


Zutara Week 2020

by TheCarmineWanker



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCarmineWanker/pseuds/TheCarmineWanker
Summary: For the first time ever, I decided to participate in Zutara Week. I will (hopefully) update every day this week or, if I can't on a particular day, post two updates the day before.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51





	1. Reunion

reunion _noun_ : an instance of two or more people coming together again after a period of separation.  
  


On the day of the eclipse, when Zuko faced his father and redirected Ozai’s own lightning back at him, purposely missing, he felt that he was finally, after far too long, being reunited with himself. His mother had told him, on the night she left, to always remember who he was but, somehow, somewhere along the line, he forgot what that really meant and had truly conflated his personal identity with his role in the royal family, his title, and his duties. In his mind, he was Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, or The Banished Prince, and that was it. Now, though, he finally snapped out of it and remembered that he was Zuko, the son of Ursa and beloved nephew of Iroh, the sweet kid who loved to feed the turtle ducks with his mother, Zuko who had such a strong sense of morality and justice that, even as a child, he didn’t hesitate to oppose the cruelty suggested by a decorated general in the Fire Lord’s war council. He was Zuko, the boy who had been horrifically punished for his gentleness and kindness and, almost successfully, had it burned out of him. In the bunker with Ozai, the electricity crackling inside him, he remembered and he felt _whole_ again. He finally was reunited with the real Zuko and he was excited about it.

...

When, in that deluge, Katara dropped all her ice daggers, letting them melt back into the puddles on the ground, she felt… conflicted but, mostly, she felt like herself. It was so long ago that her mother died, it had been so many years that she carried her grief and rage with her, that she had forgotten what it felt like to be herself, unburdened. For the first time in seven and a half years, she was getting to meet Katara, the real Katara. This Katara wasn’t sad and angry; she was so much more. She was kind and loving and a really great daughter, sister, and friend. She was strong, too, and powerful and, even though she had been physically strong with her bending for a while, now she had the mental strength to match. This Katara was strong enough to heal, strong enough to grow, strong enough to walk right up to the brink and strong enough to choose to walk away. As they flew back on Appa, as much as she felt conflicted about Yon Rha, she could feel an odd sense of clarity behind it.

...

When they landed and Katara hugged Zuko and declared her forgiveness of him, they were reunited with each other. Both had, at Ba Sing Se, seen a glimpse of each other’s true self, which had been enough for Katara to offer her spirit water to heal his face and for him to accept her offer and, by extent, consider joining his former enemies. Once Aang arrived, their microcosm burst open and the moment shattered, they went back to the way they were before, putting back on the masks they wore, causing pain in doing so. When Katara hugged him, Zuko was finally reunited with Katara, the true Katara, the one that had cried about her mother to him and offered to rid him of the permanent mark of his father’s cruelty only a few minutes after she had yelled at him. Likewise, in that moment, Katara was reunited with Zuko, the true Zuko, the one that had told her about his mother and had trusted her enough to let her touch his scar. For both of them, as cliche as it may sound, that hug felt like coming home.

...

They both remembered this, vividly, at a later date, during the fight against Azula. When Zuko saw that her lightning was aimed at Katara, he _had_ to stop it, needed to jump in front of it because all that mattered was that she made it, it didn’t matter what happened to him. She was home, to him, he knew that now and, having spent so many years without a home, he _refused_ to lose it now that he had found one. Katara felt similarly and, as such, felt as though all the air had been sucked out of her as she watched Zuko, the kind, gentle, beautiful boy she now called ‘home’ voluntarily get shot in the heart with lightning to prevent it from hitting her.

All she wanted, all she _needed_ was to get to him so she could heal him but, before she could, Azula intercepted. She fought hard and fast and strong and the most creatively she ever had so that she could get the insane princess out of the way long enough to heal Zuko. In her desperation, she managed the impossible and finished the fight quickly. It had only been a few minutes but Katara felt as though she had been away from him for hours. This reunion was their last. After this one, they realized that they needed to remain together and, as such, tried to stay close to each other. However, even when they had to be apart, they remained with each other in spirit and, in never again feeling separation between them despite physical distance, none of their meetings could be considered to be reunions, at least not truly.


	2. Counterpoint

counterpart _noun_ : one remarkably similar to another  
  


It was a pleasantly warm evening on Ember Island, not too hot, and Zuko was helping Katara make dinner while the others were hanging out nearby, waiting for the meal to be ready. Sokka had never been particularly patient, so, when the food was barely halfway through being made, he went over to check on it. He came up right behind Katara and gave the air a good sniff. 

“Mmm, smells good, sis. When will it be done?” Katara huffed a bit of an exasperated sigh. 

“When it’s ready.” 

“But that could take forever.” There were some times that Katara found it difficult to believe that her brother was actually 16, not 6, like just then, when he was whining like a child. 

“Sokka, it should be ready soon. Just be patient.” The boy in question pouted at Zuko’s interjection. 

“Well, maybe it’ll go faster if I help.” He reached over to grab the handle of the pan.

“Don’t touch that!” Zuko and Katara yelling at him in unison did stop him. They, however, didn’t stop to acknowledge it. 

“I know you’re an idiot, but even you should know that the handle of a metal pan will be just as hot as the rest of it and that, if you touch it with your bare skin, you will burn yourself.” Sokka hardly heard Zuko’s chastisement, though, as he was still focused on what had come before it. He turned around to face the others, a cheeky grin on his face that was matched by the others. 

“Did you guys see that?”

“I sure did.”

“Yup.”

“What are you talking about, Sokka?” Katara was exasperated and Zuko was confused.

“You guys completely synced. Yeah, you were already acting like the mom and dad of the group but just now you actually yelled at me in unison.”

“Yeah, it’s like you’re made for each other or something.” Suki’s statement made Aang feel a bit nauseous.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far…” Toph gave him a devilish grin.

“Oh, you wouldn’t? Even though they clearly complement each other so perfectly, like yin and yang, and clearly have such strong chemistry?” Around her, everyone choked, except for Suki who just nodded her agreement. 

“Yeah, when you think about it, he’s like the male firebender version of her and vice versa. You may not see it, but you guys have a _lot_ in common.”

“Okay okay, too far, guys.” It was Sokka who decided to put an end to it. Aang nodded his emphatic agreement. Toph just laughed.

“You started it, Snoozles. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen, but Suki and I here are right and should say it.” Sokka turned to his girlfriend, pleading with his eyes for her help. Suki just shrugged.

“She has a point, Sokka but you do, too.” She turned to face Zuko and Katara, ignoring Toph’s protests. “If you guys want us to stop, we will.”

“Yes please.” Katara’s voice was weak but she was still a bit too rattled to care. Suki nodded and that was the end of that. Well, it was the end of the group-wide teasing but it certainly wasn’t the end of it for Zuko and Katara who were left to ponder it for the rest of the evening.


	3. Fuse

fuse _transitive verb_ : to blend thoroughly by or as if by melting together  
  


Katara’s sparring sessions with Zuko quickly became part of her daily ritual that she truly looked forward to. When, right after he had come back from his trip with Aang, Katara had asked Zuko to fight her, everyone thought she intended to kill him. What they didn’t realize, though, was that, as much as she had hated him, she was smart enough to recognize his skill and use it to her advantage. Just as much as Aang needed to learn firebending, she needed to learn how to fight fire if they were going into the Fire Nation and would be fighting firebenders.

At first, they fought as they always had, firebending against waterbending, occasionally stealing some moves from each other as they went. Along the way, though, things started to become more fluid as, more and more, they would each other’s stances and forms. Katara began to bend her water water with firebending moves almost as often as she used the waterbending forms she learned from Pakku and the same went for Zuko. Then they started to mix the two, no longer separating firebending forms from waterbending ones, combining them into new forms that were unrecognizable. That is how, over time, Zuko and Katara discovered that, just like themselves, their elements were actually very similar, no matter how opposite they appeared on the outside.

When Sokka had them do that training exercise, their so-called “liquidy hot offense” was flawless. They moved together seamlessly, their movements more like dancing than fighting, they seemed to be two halves of one whole, working in perfect harmony. Sometimes, the line between those halves would blur and, for one beautiful moment, they would truly become one.


	4. Celestial

Celestial _adjective_ : (1) of, relating to, or suggesting heaven or divinity

(2) of or relating to the sky or visible heavens  
  


“You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun.” Zuko had once said that to Katara, during their fight at the north pole, which is why it should have come as no surprise to him when he found her in the ocean, practicing her bending, in the middle of the night. He had been restless that night and, in an effort to overcome his insomnia, decided to take a walk along the beach, hoping that the cool night air and the sound of the waves breaking on the shore would soothe him. Now, however, he had the added option of Katara’s company. As he approached, she acknowledged his presence but continued her bending.

“What are you doing up this late?”

“I could be asking you the same question.” She rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah but I asked first and, besides, you’re the one who once said that I rise with the moon and you rise with the sun. I’m not the one who’s opposing my element’s celestial influence or whatever.” He chuckled a bit at that.

“I couldn’t sleep so I thought that taking a walk might help.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” She finally dropped her water, turning to face him fully.

“Do you want to, maybe, spar a bit? Like maybe if you wear me out I’ll be tired enough to sleep?” She nodded.

“Yeah, seems like as good an idea as any.”

They bowed to each other before dropping into their bending stances and began to fight. He knew, before they even started that, in the light of the full moon, she would definitely win but, in a way, him having to fight against the full strength of her bending was kind of the point so, really, it was perfect. They had the whole beach to themselves and the others were all inside, asleep, so they could truly let loose, not having to hold back except in not delivering fatal blows or severely injuring each other. Anything that she could heal was fair game.

Water met fire and they fought, they danced across the beach, throwing their elements at each other. Eventually and very predictably, Katara won. She pulled Zuko’s leg out from under him with a water whip and pinned him down to the sand. There, as she sat on top of him panting, dripping wet, her hair an absolute mess, she was illuminated by the bright moonlight that reflected off all the water that was on her, making her positively glow, and was every bit as celestial, as etherial, as the moon above her and Zuko was _breathless_.

“I won.” She smirked at him. “But we both knew I would.” When he didn’t respond and just stared at her, she frowned, sitting back on her heels, letting go of his wrists. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He shook himself out of it. “Just tired.” She moved so that he could sit up. “Thank you, Katara, I think that helped.”

“No problem. Just let me know if you need to do that again at some point.” He gave her a small smile.

“Thanks, I will. Goodnight, Katara.”

“Goodnight.” As he walked away, the image of a beautiful water spirit illuminated by the moon lingered in his mind.

...

A few weeks later, Katara was woken up early by Momo and, unlike normally, could not for the life of her fall back asleep. Groggy and irritated, she got up, got dressed, and decided to go down to the beach to watch the sunrise on the water and, once she was awake enough, maybe even practice her bending a little. The sun was just barely starting to peek over the horizon so she was surprised when she came across Zuko meditating because, even though he was a firebender, she felt like it was too early even for him. Without opening his eyes, he spoke, startling her.

“You’re up early.” She sighed.

“Yeah, Momo woke me up and I couldn’t fall back asleep like I normally do. Why are you up, though? Isn’t it early, even for you?” He breathed a laugh. 

“Nope. It’s the perfect time to meditate, since everyone else is still asleep. Well, usually.” His eyes twinkled with humor as he opened them. She scoffed.

“Well, sorry to bother you, _your highness_.” 

“You’re never a bother, Katara.” His sincerity caught her a bit off guard. “Would sparring help you wake up? I was almost done with my meditation anyway and was going to start training once I was done so, really, you’d be helping me out, too.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” She grinned. “Sounds perfect.”

Then, just like before, they began to fight, but only after moving away from the house and going back to the beach. Katara did really well. Even with it being sunrise, she had the upper hand for a while, since she had an entire ocean at her back. That is, until she was caught off guard. It was one particular moment, when he jumped in the air and spun, kicking fire at her, his hair floating around his head like a messy cloud of soot, and the light of the early sunrise illuminating his beautiful porcelain face and the smirk on his lips.

Katara maintained that it wasn’t fair, that it should have counted as an illegal move or something because _nothing_ could have prepared her for that and how was she supposed to fight when she could barely breathe? He was supposed to be Zuko, clumsy, awkward Zuko who used to be their enemy, not some… brilliant _sun god_. If you asked her, that was the only reason he was able to win and now had her pinned under him, smirking and dripping wet.

“I win.”

“Not fair,” she grumbled. He cocked his head to the side, sitting back on the sand, freeing her.

“What do you mean? I won, fair and square.” She shook her head.

“Nope.” His face scrunched in confusion.

“What do you mean? What did I do?” She sighed in exasperation and, to her chagrin, realized that she was blushing like crazy.

“You… you… distracted me. In a way that was definitely unfair.” Now he was completely lost.

“Katara I have no idea what you’re talking about. We all agreed a while ago that distraction is valid because it’s realistic but I didn’t even do anything to distract you this time.”

“You were too pretty.” Her voice was barely a whisper and she refused to look at him but, somehow, he heard her and, well, blushed hard enough to match hers.

“I’m sorry, I’ll… try to keep that in check going forward.” Then, Katara laughed.

“Sorry, this is just so ridiculous.” His face relaxed and he smiled.

“Yeah, it kind of is but, if it makes you feel better, I think I know what you mean.” She perked up at that.

“Really?” He nodded

“Remember that night we sparred, when I couldn’t sleep?” She nodded. “Well, when you won, and you had me pinned down, the moonlight hit you perfectly and reflected off all the water that was still on you so it was like you were glowing. Your hair was a mess, you were panting and dripping wet but, somehow, in that moment, you were just so… beautiful and you looked like a spirit or something and it just completely caught me off guard.”

It was like he’d forgotten who he was talking to until he finished, at which point he remembered the position he was in and froze before looking away from her, blushing. Katara, meanwhile, felt a bit like she might very well actually have a heart attack. Summoning all her courage, she reached out and turned his head to face her, pausing for half a moment before leaning in and kissing him. The kiss was short and sweet and perhaps a tad salty but, even so, it was perfect; the sun and the moon coming together in a stunning eclipse.


	5. Hesitancy

hesitancy _noun_ : A pausing or halt, halting before beginning a task, often as a result of some fear or uncertainty about the outcome.  
  


“So, you keep saying that Zuko somehow betrayed us at Ba Sing Se but you never say what he actually did. I wasn’t there like you were but even Twinkletoes here has said that he has no idea what you’re talking about.” Katara saw Zuko freeze in her peripheral vision. She, however, just huffed out a sigh, irritated because she wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, never had been, and never would be so she really didn’t feel like dealing with the nosy blind earthbender.

“Toph, drop it.”

“Why should I?” Unfortunately, her irritation was matched by the other girl. “He’s teaching Aang firebending, even uncovered a lost society for the kid, and lets you treat him like your personal punching bag but you refuse to tell any of us what he actually did that was bad enough to deserve it. He’s part of the group now so whatever problem you have is now all our problem.” 

“Well you’re wrong! It’s none of your business, Toph, so just let it go.”

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” Predictably, Aang stepped in.

“Well Toph was being nosy…”

“I was just _trying_ to deal with the elephant in the room and then _she_ got all defensive…”

“Because you were asking about stuff that’s none of your business!”

“Are you as deaf as I am blind? Because, in case you didn’t hear me the first ten times, it’s _all_ of our business!”

“Enough!” Aang yelling was rare enough to get everyone to stop real quick. “Toph, what were you asking Katara about that started all of this?”

“What happened with Zuko at Ba Sing Se that actually counts as a betrayal, since she keeps saying he betrayed us somehow.” Nodding, Aang turned to face Katara.

“Why don’t you want to talk about it?”

“Because it’s none of her business.”

“But, Katara, it’s all of our business. We’re a group now and your anger at Zuko affects all of us. Toph might not have gone about it in the best way but I think this is something that we need to resolve together, as a group, and I think that now is a good time.” She clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and then let it go, relaxing a bit. 

“Fine.” With her assent, they all gathered around like they normally did at meal times. “As you know, Zuko and I got stuck in a cell together for a while. At first, I just yelled at him about all the terrible things he’s done and what a terrible person he is but, then, he said that I ‘didn’t know what I was talking about” so I got mad, and told him that I’d lost my mom to this war and he said that he had, too.” She paused, glaring at the floor in front of her. “I was dumb enough to feel sorry for him. I even _apologized_ for yelling at him and I said something about how, when I think of the face of the Fire Nation, it’s his face, so then he thought it was about the scar, which it wasn’t.” She took a deep breath and hesitated before continuing, wondering if she even should.

“I offered to heal it, his scar. With the spirit water from the north pole.” She heard Sokka squawk in disbelief. “Aang showed up before I could, though, and it’s a good thing, too, seeing how Zuko went all evil and, thanks to that, Aang got hit with lightning and almost died.” Now, her glare was on Zuko, who looked rather pale, even for his complexion.

“Thank you for telling us, Katara. Is there anything that was left out, Zuko?” He stiffly nodded.

“She walked away.” Around him was confusion.

“I’m sorry, what?” 

“When Aang showed up with my uncle, she was the one who left. She turned her back and looked over her shoulder as she walked away. I didn’t. It doesn’t matter, really, but that’s the only thing that was left out.” Katara froze and Toph was laughing. 

“That’s rich! Little miss “I will never turn my back on people who need me” _turned her back on someone who needed her!_ ” 

“Yeah, where was that attitude when we needed to move along but couldn’t because _someone_ was pretending that Appa was sick so they could commit ecoterrorism?” 

With some effort from Aang, everyone calmed down and, when they did, he picked up where they left off.

“So, you both feel that he betrayed you?” They nodded. “Why? I mean, maybe I’m missing something but the story you both gave sounds nothing like betrayal.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s betrayal, I offered to help him and then he went and tried to kill us all and almost succeeded!” Aang shook his head.

“But, Katara, look at it this way: you made an offer you never actually followed through on and then expected him to switch sides, giving up his family, home, and people for you all because of an empty promise? Or would it be because you two got along for a few minutes? And, when Iroh and I arrived, you still could’ve done it but, like he said, you chose to walk away; you hesitated. So, then, how can you say that he betrayed you?” She was starting to crumble, she could feel it, but she had to keep going anyway.

“Because I trusted him! And he betrayed my trust!”

“Why did you trust him, though? Nothing in the story you shared required trust from either of you.”

“That’s… not actually true.” It was Zuko who answered Sokka’s question. “I can’t speak for her but, for me, I had to trust her to be telling the truth when she offered to heal my scar, I had to trust that she could actually do it, and,” he paused, taking a deep breath, “she was the first person I ever let touch it. I never even let my uncle change the bandages when it first happened. It took a lot of trust for me to let her touch my face. Again, I don’t know what it was like for her, but I always kind of just assumed that our experiences there were similar enough and she must have had for me as much trust as I did for her.”

“Katara?” She debated if she should answer at all. The only answer she had, the only true answer, was… not great. “Katara?” She sighed when her brother echoed Aang’s prompting.

“I don’t think it was… trust. It was something, though.” She fought the urge to hurl an icicle at Toph when she saw the girl snickering. “In that situation, it was odd. We had been enemies for so long and then, suddenly, we were bonding over our mothers and I was offering to heal his scar. It was only a few minutes but it felt longer, deeper, and… more significant than that.” She blushed, realizing how utterly stupid that sounded. Then, Aang piped back in.

“So, then, it hurt a lot when he chose to stay with the enemy but, now that he’s not, you guys can be friends again, pick up where you left off. Do you think you can you let go of your anger, Katara?” Hesitantly, Katara nodded.

“Yeah, okay, just one thing first, though.”

“Katara…” Aang interrupted, exasperated. Katara stood and turned to face Zuko.

“I’m sorry.” Sokka’s eyes almost fell out of his head in shock when he saw his sister bow, deeply, before the same boy she’d been tormenting just that morning. “I treated you horribly, punishing you for something you never actually did when, really, I was the one who let you down.” Zuko smiled softly. 

“I accept your apology and, um, thank you, I never thought I’d get one from you and I still don’t think I deserve it.” She stood back up, frowning.

“Stand up.” He obeyed, albeit confused by her order. “Tell me if you don’t like this.” And then, she did the unthinkable- she gave him a hug. “It doesn’t matter what things you’ve done throughout your life, you _always_ deserve an apology when someone does you wrong. You may owe me 50 apologies but that doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve one from me, for this.” She pulled back, hands on his shoulders. “Okay?” He nodded. She smiled. 

“Good. And, Zuko?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll never hesitate like that again, not for something that important.”


	6. Affirm

affirm _verb_ : to show respect for and approval of someone  
  


Hakoda owed Zuko a great debt. He had very much been pleasantly surprised when he learned that the prince of the Fire Nation had not only committed high treason to join his kids and the avatar in helping to end the war but had also taken it upon himself to help Sokka bust him out of prison. He knew that, for such a radical change to happen so quickly, it must not have actually been that much of a change and that the kid who just helped save him had to have been there the whole time, underneath all the anger and hatred. It made sense; after all, the kid’s father was the Fire Lord so he must’ve had it tough.

However, when they reached their camp, he was met with something unpleasant, but not entirely surprising- his daughter’s hatred for the boy. It pained him to see her so angry and clearly in so much pain but it also pained him to see Zuko being abused by her and just… taking it, even after everything he’d done for them. As Katara started yelling at him over something minor again, Hakoda decided that enough was enough and it was high time he step in.

“Katara, that’s enough.” She stopped mid thought, turning to face him, her face still taut with anger. “All he did was spill some tea on you. Last I checked, though, you’re a waterbender and are fully capable of fixing the problem in seconds.” She glared at her feet, cheeks flushed in embarrassment and anger.

“Fine.” Hakoda frowned as he watched his daughter clean herself up before storming off. He would have to talk to her later.

...

“Katara, can I talk to you for a minute?” He waited until they were done cleaning up from dinner to pull her aside.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know why you hate Zuko so much and I don’t need to know why, but the poor kid doesn’t deserve it.” She tensed and opened her mouth like she was going to argue, but he cut her off. “I know he’s done some bad things in the past, and you don’t need to forgive him for them, but you need to recognize that, now, things have changed and he has done so much for you kids. You know that he committed treason and then turned around and broke into a Fire Nation prison run by his girlfriend’s uncle to help your brother break me out and, even after all of that, he still lets you yell at him.” He put a hand on her shoulder.

“Katara, that boy is not your enemy, not anymore, and I owe him a lot. If it weren’t for him, I’d still be in there or I’d be dead from a failed escape attempt but, either way, I wouldn’t be here right now.” As she started to cry, he pulled her in for a hug.

“I _wanted_ to trust him, before, I wanted him to join us.” She hated how her voice cracked. “But, now… he had the chance but he didn’t, then he just shows up and thinks it’s all okay? That it’s not too late?” She bent the tears away, trying unsuccessfully to clear her eyes as more just kept coming.

“Is it too late, though? I don’t think it is. I think you’re hurt and upset and that you don’t want to let yourself forgive him because you’re afraid he’ll betray you if you let him in but I also think that you could trust him, that you _can_ trust him, and maybe even forgive him, someday. I’m not saying it’ll be easy or that it will happen overnight but, for now, just start small, maybe apologize for yelling at him earlier.” Sighing, she nodded.

“Alright, I’ll do that.” She let go and took a step back.

“He’s a good kid, Katara. Remember where he comes from; I have a feeling that boy knows pain like no other and he doesn’t need any more of it.”

“Yeah.” She took a deep breath, then looked up, smiling. “I may not trust _him_ yet, but I trust _you_ , Dad. If you vouch for him, I’ll try to give him a chance.” He returned her smile with one of his own. 

“Thank you, Katara.” This time, the smile stayed on his face as she walked away. 


	7. Rebirth

rebirth _noun_ : spiritual regeneration  
  


For the longest time, Zuko felt like he was drowning, floundering underneath rolling waves that would pull him further down every time he tried to surface. For three years, that was what it felt like for him to be alive and every time he closed his eyes he saw dark, angry waves. When he met Katara, it was as though she was that endless black sea and her piercing eyes seemed to be every bit as dark and angry as the waves that haunted him.

At Ba Sing Se, when she offered her help and touched his scar _oh-so-gently_ , he, for the first time in years, was able to breach the surface and _breathe_. But, then, she turned her back and walked away and, just like that, he was pulled back under, lost in a cold, angry sea. Eventually, in his time back in the Fire Nation, his dreams and his constant guilt about his decision back at Ba Sing Se prompted him to do the right thing, to stand up to his father and leave.

It was love that saved him; his uncle’s love, his mother’s love, and the one moment in which his worst enemy showed him love in her kindness and compassion. That love pulled him from the sea and delivered him on shore, a new, kinder young man. It was that same love that gave him the courage to face those that he had wronged and atone for his sins.

...

For years, Katara had been burning, her entire soul engulfed in bright, scorching tongues of fire. Her grief, her pain, her rage roasted her alive and she didn’t know what it felt like to be free from the fire and brimstone, free to _breathe_ without choking on smoke. At night, when she closed her eyes, she could see walls of fire and, in her sleep, was met with the stench of her own burning hair and flesh. She saw all of it in Zuko- hellfire in his eyes and smoke in his veins- and hated him for it, on top of all the reasons she already had to hate him.

At Ba Sing Se, when he told her he had lost his mother, when he showed her how insecure he was about his scar, when he let her touch it, she felt the flames die down as the heat became bearable, then nonexistent. For a blissful moment, she was free which was why, in retrospect, she couldn’t believe that she actually walked away, that she tasted freedom and threw it away. But, she did and, as she turned her back, she could feel the heat rise, the flames in Zuko’s eyes licking at her back.

As hard as she tried to maintain her hatred for him when he joined them, trying to fight fire with fire, she failed and, in the end, was saved in spite of herself. She was saved by love- her father’s love, her brother’s love, the love of her friends, and by the love shown by Zuko in his understanding and consideration of her. It was that love that pulled her from the flames and that love that sparked her own, allowing her to show mercy and compassion instead of tainting her soul with murder and vengeance. It was that same love that gave her the strength to move forward from the past and forgive Zuko. In that love, she was reborn; the hateful girl engulfed in pain and rage was no more and, now, in her place, stood a radiant young woman who found strength in her love.


End file.
